Egg, no egg

[Srcher]

Occured to me that I should start a new thread, so again, here I go:

Hi, new to BYC. I recently bought two Ameraucana hens, $20 ea, the lady was recomended by the lady that sold us our first chickens so I trust her. Anyway, we have had the hens for almost 3 months now, they get along with my other hens, they are all about 1 yr old. In the 3 months they have laid about 7-8 eggs, combined, and one chicken laid an egg with only membrane about 3 wks ago even tho they have access to oyster shell and they enjoy occational yogurt binges. They seem healthy although they seem to excrete more liquid than solids. They eat well, seem happy, but no eggs for about a month and a half now. No abundance of feathers laying around, just quit laying. The other hens are laying an egg a day, any suggestions of what could be the problem?

 

[ChicKat]

That is strange.

You didn't say the breed of your new chickens. Some breeds are rare layers...some are regular layers. Since your other hens are laying regularly---it probably isn't your management...it is probably the new chickens.

Maybe give the BYC community some more info about the new ones....or pictures perhaps....and some one here can chime in with something really helpful. :O)

Have you seen the Hendersons chicken chart? It gives breed information. If the breed of your new chickens is a rarely laying breed, possibly everything is normal. http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html


ETA--Welcome to the BYC forum!!!

 

[Phantom_Rooster]

ChicKat, Srcher said he/she bought two Ameraucana hens.

 

[ChicKat]

ChicKat, Srcher said he/she bought two Ameraucana hens.

whoops, I need to clean my glasses LOL. thanks.

 

[Phantom_Rooster]

whoops, I need to clean my glasses LOL. thanks.

No problem. I'm guilty of reading too fast a lot of the time. I hope you have a nice evening.

 

[Phantom_Rooster]

Srcher, I looked at your thread, because my hen just started laying. She laid 5 eggs in a row and about 30 hours apart. Then, she laid 2 eggs at one time. One had no shell (it was a blob) and the other had a half shell and the membrane was intact. Then, she skipped a couple of days laying. She laid me one today. So, I hope she is back on track. I am giving her oyster shell and Layena pellets. I'm sorry that I don't have any good advise for you. I hope someone chimes in with some good advice. I would like to know also. Best wishes.

 

[Srcher]

Today one of the Ameraucana hens (Marilyn and Jean) laid another egg that was just encased in a membrane, no shell at all. This is driving me crazy. We have a great coop, clean, with two nice boxes. When the new hens first got here they laid a few eggs in the boxes, the first "mem-egg" was laid out in the yard. They free range in our backyard. The lady we got them from housed them in with a few other younger chickens in a stall in a dark barn. Now they have fresh air, bugs, grass, everything a chicken could want. The only thing I can think of doing is maybe another nest box, maybe out in the yard? I am at a loss, expensive chickens who eat, poop, and look cute. UGH?!

 

[Srcher]

This is Jean (as in Harlow)
)

 

[ChicKat]

This is Jean (as in Harlow)
)

What beautiful chickens....

There may be another line of thinking.... I read in one of my chicken books that breeders will breed for type and plumage color. For show the type determines the breed according to the Standards of Perfection --and plumage color is an indication of breed purity. (I think this information came from Gail Damerow's book Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens.

So the Ameraucana breeder that you got your birds from is looking for certain things...the 'type' which in my understanding would be like conformation in other livestock like horses, and the plumage color. Sooooo the egg laying ability is less important in a show bird than these other traits. ---- Just a thought. SOmetimes I say I would rather have a work horse than a show horse to identify my chicken raising goals. (I know ---what do horses have to do with chickens...nothin')--- but it is just a old saying.....

LOL when I first read your post, I thought that the birds were eating poop....but they eat, poop and look pretty right?

I love the names you have chosen for the pretty chickens. Very possibly they won't be outstanding layers...but they will lay blue eggs right?? Such gorgeous birds... maybe you could start breeding for high productivity.... big challenge there. (and type and blue etc. etc.)

Thanks for the pictures...

 

[Singlemaple]

What time do you let them out at? ours free range but not till after 12 thats when most of them are done laying.

if we let them out before noon then we get very few eggs cause they will lay in the woods and im not about to go looking for eggs..
maybe if you let them out later or keep them locked in for one day an see if you get eggs.